British regimental number research. First World War research. Military research. British Army regiments. Regimental numbering sequences between 1881 and 1918. Regimental number series. Other rank prisoners of war 1914.

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17 January 2016

Naval and Military Press has these current DVD-ROM bargains. I have a number of these myself - and rather wish I'd invested in the Military Operations, France & Belgium instead of filling up my bookshelves with red-spined volumes. You can buy the DVD of these volumes for £180. I think I was paying around £30 a time when I was buying these Battery Press / IWM imprints in the eighties and nineties. My incomplete set goes up to the end of 1917 and takes up eighteen inches of bookshelf. What's more, I need to refer to indexes to find what I need. Here on a single DVD-ROM, you have everything at your fingertips - and it's fully searchable. After 25th January, this will cost £45 more, so make the most of it now.

The other stand-out publication here is the War Diaries' DVD-ROM: 4,500 separate war diaries of battalions which fought on the Western Front, comprising 1.52m pages in full colour - £360 now or £450 after 25th January. I was looking at my copy this afternoon - so much easier to search than on Ancestry. Remember too, that Naval & Military Press offers an interest-free easy-payment scheme where you can spread payments across four or ten months. Well, why wouldn't you?

All of these DVD-ROM and CD-ROMs - not to mention the books from Naval & Military Press's extensive back-catalogue are offered with a 20% discount until 25th January 2016 - so you'll need to be quick to catch these deals.

16 January 2016

Here's an interesting little diversion. When the Army Reserve was called out in 1899 in response to the crisis in South Africa, the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons were under strength. Other Corps of Dragoons regiments however, appear to have had men to spare. The result? Some men recalled from the 1st (Royal) Dragoons, 2nd Dragoons (Royal Scots Greys) and 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards, were transferred into the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons upon their recall. Furthermore, there was nothing ad hoc about it. An examination of the regimental numbers shows that this was a well-planned out exercise.

6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons men with numbers in the range 5001 to 5178 are almost all recalled reservists. I say "almost all" because, just to make things awkward, 5004 certainly enlisted in April 1903. However, for the most part, all of these men were specially numbered out of sequence in late 1899 and early 1900. Their entries on the QSA and KSA medal rolls stand out like sore thumbs, and furthermore, there is a pre-planned and logical method in this re-numbering.
There are some anomalies, to be sure - note, for instance that Karl and Roughan are oddities in the first, and otherwise alphabetical listing, below. Such is the British Army: exceptions to most rules.

The list which follows is taken from the QSA roll to the 6th Dragoons. Those men with annotated comments after their names have surviving papers in WO 97.

Numbers 5001 to 5052 were issued to men who had formerly served with the 1st Dragoons:

Numbers 5157 (possibly) to 5178 were issued to former 4th Dragoon Guards men who had completed their time on Section B Army Reserve and had re-enlisted for Section D Army Reserve. This is entirely right and proper as the regulations stated that Section D men were to be recalled after Section B men.

Another interesting to point to note is that on none of the surviving papers that I came across are the men's new 6th Dragoons numbers written. It is clearly stated that they were recalled from the Army Reserve, but the new regimental number has not over-written their former regimental number.

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13 January 2016

This is something of a work in progress and I only stumbled upon these number series when I was doing some research on a DCM winner for a friend.The 1st Highland Brigade comprised the 1st, 2nd and 3rd City of Aberdeen Batteries and the 1st Highland Ammunition Column. Here's the important point. Despite all being administered by the same County Territorial Force Association, the City of Aberdeen, each of the batteries and the ammunition column operated their own regimental number series. I have not researched this unit much beyond November 1915 but here's what I have found out so far.1st City of Aberdeen BatteryStarted numbering from 1 in April 1908 from a number series extending to 999. When the TF was re-numbered in 1917, the battery issued numbers between 630001 to 630300.2nd City of Aberdeen BatteryStarted numbering from 1000 in April 1908 from a number series extending to 3000. When the TF was re-numbered in 1917, the battery issued numbers between 630301 to around 630574.3rd City of Aberdeen BatteryStarted numbering from around 3001 in around 1911 (I am unclear when this battery was formed)from a number series extending to 4000. When the TF was re-numbered in 1917, the battery issued numbers from around 630575.1st Highland Ammunition ColumnStarted numbering from the high 3000s in April 1908. The lowest number on my database is 4005 issued in 1911. When the TF was re-numbered in 1917, the battery issued numbers from around 630840.The significance of understanding this, particularly if your RFA ancestor was serving in the 1st Highland Brigade before late November 1915 is that if you know his regimental number, you'll also be able to identify which battery he served with, or whether in fact he served with the ammunition column.For instance the men with the regimental numbers 289 (1st City of Aberdeen Battery), 1276 (2nd City of Aberdeen Battery), 3340 (3rd City of Aberdeen Battery) and 4128 (1st Highland Ammunition Column) - all of these units forming the 1st Highland Brigade RFA - enlisted in 1911.Treat the number ranges above with a little caution. This is not an exact science, but I have enough data to be able to see significant patterns emerging for this Territorial Force artillery brigade in Aberdeen.
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2 January 2016

The 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards holds the distinction of being the first British Regiment to fire a shot during the First World War and Corporal Edward Thomas, pictured above, was the man credited with firing that shot.

The following men were all serving with the 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards when they became prisoners of war of the Germans on or before Christmas Day 1914. There are 78 names in this list. Read more about this Prisoner of War data source on my 1914 PoWs page.

This data has been transcribed from three separate lists (B.O.2 1/47 to B.O.2 1/49 inclusive)which are now housed at the Imperial War Museum.

This is an edited list, giving number, rank and name only. The full transcription also includes date of capture and home address or next of kin address for most men. Supplementary information is also included for a number of the men listed here. If you would like a copy of the full, un-edited list for £20, please contact me via the RESEARCH tab on this blog.

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WW1 Medal Index Cards 1914-1920First World War campaign medal entitlement details for close to 5 million men. You'll find ALL of a man's regimental numbers indexed here. Ancestry's search is limited to the last number a man was issued with; a serious failing.

The Royal Dublin Fusiliers was born on 1st July 1881. The 1st Battalion was created out of the old 102nd Regiment of Foot (Royal Madras Fus...

Regimental Numbers

When did my relative enlist? When did my grandfather join up? On what date did he join his regiment?

A man's regimental number can tell you a lot about when he joined and even which battalion he joined. Note however, that there is a distinction between "enlisted" and "joined".

A man would generally enlist once - and be given a regimental number - or army number - on joining his regiment. If he joined another regiment he would be given a different number.

He could even be given a different number if he joined another battalion of the same regiment. In all probability this number would not be unique and could be repeated in many battalions and regiments throughout the British Army.

This blog aims to guide the researcher through the maze of regimental numbers issued by the British Army between 1881 and 1918.

The Army Service Numbers Database

The Army Service Numbers database is a database of British Army regimental numbers. This has been compiled from original sources, principally WO 363, WO 364, WO 96, WO 97 and WO 372 at the National Archives in London.

The database covers most units of the British Army which issued regimental numbers between the years 1881 and 1918: Infantry Regiments, Cavalry and Yeomanry, Royal Artillery and Royal Army Medical Corps.

What you will find on this blog is data from a far larger data set - generally one number per year up until 1914 and then one number per month from August 1914 onwards.

As general rules:

1. Army Service Numbers for regular battalions are uncomplicated and largely sequential up until 1914.

2. Numbering in the British Army becomes more complicated from December 1915.